Two more sports seasons have come to an end at South Dakota School of Mines while two more continue to take off while still another enters post-tournament action

RAPID CITY --- Two more sports seasons have come to an end at South Dakota School of Mines while two more continue to take off while still another enters post-tournament action. The Hardrocker football team closed the book on the 2006 year falling to the Dickinson State Blue Hawks this past Saturday on Dunham Field at O’Hara Stadium in Rapid City. The men’s and women’s cross country teams’ year also drew to a close after competing at the Region III Meet in Sioux Falls. The Lady Hardrocker netters finished their regular season with a split on the road. The men’s and women’s SDM hoops team took their first road trip of the season, traveling East River to square off with Mount Marty and Dakota Wesleyan University in non-conference contest.
Cross Country
The South Dakota School of Mines men’s cross country team had a difficult race Saturday at the NAIA Region III Cross Country Championship in Sioux Falls, finishing eighth out of 17 teams.
While four of the six Hardrocker men ran personal or season best times, the team did not fare as well as hoped for. Kyle Kattke (junior from Black Hawk) led the ‘Rockers with a 39th-place finish in a time of 26 minutes 42 seconds (season best) and Colton Reid (sophomore from Colstrip, Mont.) finished 47th with a personal best time of 26:42. Andy Lein, a sophomore from Gordon, Neb., was third for the Hardrockers in a time of 27:06 and 53rd place while freshman Nate Hicks (from Yankton) hot on his tail in 54th place and a time of 27:07 (two seconds off of his personal best). Marcus Moor (freshman from Kadoka) ran a personal best 28:11 to finish fifth for the team in 96th place.
"Shane Hague had a rough day running with a late season illness" said Hardrocker head coach Jerry Schafer. "He came down sick on Thursday and still came out and gave it his best shot. He got himself up in the pack early but just didn't have the strength to hold on".
Hague finished sixth for the Hardrockers, about 40 to 50 places lower than normal.
On the women's side Sam Diede (freshman from Huron) and Molly Tobin (freshman from Lincoln, Neb.) both ran personal best times for 5K with Diede finishing 57th in 20:34 and Molly finishing 104th in 21:55.
"Sam had a good race and got herself up in the front early to finish in the top half of the field," Schafer said. "Molly had a solid race as well but we were hoping she could get in the top half of the field."
While the Hardrockers did not quite reach their team goals at the Region III meet, the season was still successful overall with the men's pack time improving from almost two minutes a year ago to a season best of 21 seconds this season. All but one athlete ran career best times for 5K (women) and 8K (men) over the course of the season.
“As the team looks to the future, we only graduate Shane Hague so the ‘Rocker men and women return the nucleus for another successful year next year,” Schafer added.
With the Cross Country season concluded the Hardrockers will focus on training for the upcoming track season.
Volleyball
The South Dakota School of Mines women’s volleyball team closed out the 2006 regular season on a North Dakota road trip this past weekend, splitting a pair of Dakota Athletic Conference matches. The Hardrockers defeated Minot State Friday, 3-1, before getting swept by the conference’s top squad --- Dickinson State, 3-0, Saturday afternoon. In Friday’s bout, the Hardrockers defeated the Beavers, 30-26, 30-20, 19-30, 30-20.
“We feel we really took control of the match in Game 2,” said Hardrocker head coach Doug Tabbert. “We were pretty dominant. In Game 3, (Minot) played a lot better and we really shut down and didn’t play well at all.”
Individually, Jennie Malone (junior from Rapid City) had an impressive match, going 18-19 on the serve and made good on 31 of 33 attacks, tallied 14 kills and four blocks. As a team, the Rockers rung up 73 kills and was 159-179 on the attack. Sophomore Stephanie Carpio (Yuma, Colo.) put forth a good effort, grabbing 18 kills and going 37-45 on the attack. SDM was 101-108 on the serve with eight aces, had 86 digs and 71 assists. Sophomore Jenny Hiykel (Omaha, Neb.) contributed on the defensive end, collecting 20 digs and was 42-46 on serve receive. Sophomore Tessa Howe (Omaha, Neb.) was a solid setter netting 63 of the team’s 71 assists.
On Saturday, even though Dickinson came out on top in all three games, the Hardrockers held their own as each set remained close until the very end.
“The same thing happened in the first two games. We were even with them (on the score board) until (late in the game),” Tabbert said. “Then they would start to pull away. I felt that we were competing with them, but they just took the momentum at the end of each game.”
Individually, Malone had another standout performance. The 5-foot-11-inch middle hitter was 14-15 from the serve line with an ace, made good on 21-25 attacks with 15 kills, had one block and came up with nine digs.
As a team, Mines was 70-77 on the serve with four aces, made good on 89-106 attacks, had four assisted blocks, 40 assists, 41 digs and was 78-82 on serve receive.
After Malone’s effort, Howe had 37 assists and was 12-14 on the serve with an ace. Junior Agniezska Koperek (Belchatow, Poland) was 24-29 on the attack with 10 kills, had 10 digs and was 16-17 on serve receive. Katherine Hanson (freshman from Sioux Falls) had 2 assisted blocks and Hiykel went 43-45 on serve receive.
That wrapped up the regular season, giving Mines a 15-9 overall record and a 6-8 DAC mark.
With that record, the Hardrockers earn a berth in the DAC post-season tournament, which starts Wednesday. As the No. 5 seed, Mines will travel to Valley City to square off with the Vikings (No. 4 seed).
“This is what you work for --- getting to the post season. Valley City is a pretty good draw for us, other than we have to drive that far. They are a team that we feel we can play with,” Tabbert said.
Men’s Basketball
The Hardrocker men split its weekend games, defeating Mount Marty College Friday night, 71-66, but came up short Saturday against the DWU Tigers, 89-74.
In the Mount Marty game, South Dakota Mines had three players reach double figures. Senior Casey Schmitz (Williston, N.D,) and sophomore Brandon Smith (Amenia, N.D.) paced the ‘Rockers with 14 points each. Senior Blake Tideman (Winner) contributed with 12 points while senior Brandon Lord (Taylorville, Utah) chipped in nine. The Hardrockers held an eight-point edge at half time,41-33.
The ���Rockers didn’t fair so well in Saturday’s outing, trailing a majority of the game to the Tigers. SDM got contribution from a couple younger players along with a couple of veterans. Schmitz led the way with a 16-point effort followed by 14 points from senior Brandon Fredrickson (Fort Collins, Colo.). Freshman Robbie Fedor (Monticello, Minn.) had a great game with 11 points and sophomore Donny DeGooyer (Great Falls, Mont) contributed with 10 points.
Next, the Hardrockers head to the West Coast to take part in the Azuza-Pacific Tip-off Tournament this weekend. They will play the host team Cougars Friday followed by a bout with Concordia (Calif.) University on Saturday.
Women’s Basketball
After winning their first game of the season last week, the Lady Hardrockers suffered two disappointing losses on their East River road trip.
South Dakota Mines fell to Mount Marty College Friday, 64-59, and then came up short to Dakota Wesleyan University Saturday, 76-64.
Against the Lady Lancers, Amber DeWeerd (junior from Rock Valley, Iowa) had an outstanding performance, leading the ‘Rockers with 18 points. Freshman Leah Sundby (Williston, N.D.) also put forth a good effort, dishing in 13 points.
Against the Tigers, DeWeerd again set the pace, cashing in for 18 points and against Sundby came up big with a 16-point effort. Freshman Rachel O’Hara Humbolt, did her part with 12 points.
The women’s team falls to 1-2 on the season and will next see action this weekend at the Rocky Mountain College Classic tournament in Billings, Mont.
Football
The Hardrockers ended the 2006 campaign with their fourth scoreless game of the season. SDM fell to Dickinson State, 35-0, in Rapid City. The home team moved the ball fairly well against the Blue Hawks and looked destined to score in the middle of the second quarter. Mines drove the ball pretty much the length of the field and made it down to the one-yard line despite numerous penalties. But a delay of game on fourth down, pushed the ‘Rockers back to the six and they were unable to punch it though after enforcement of the penalty.
Statistically, the Hardrockers had 179 total yards to the 312 amassed by Dickinson.
Freshman running back John Henderson (Long Beach, Calif.,) led the ground game for SDM with 64 total yards. Sophomore Kyle Krajewski also gained some yards, collecting 40 on 14 carries.
The passing attack struggled a little as the quarterback position was shared by both Jason Beilstein (freshman from Lodi, Calif.) and Frank Vanskike (sophomore from Redding Calif.). Beilstein was 3-6 for 48 yards and an interception while Vanskike was 4-9 for 41 yards and an INT.
Krajewski led all receivers catching three balls for 37 yards, while Lukas Munsell (junior from Mills, Wyo.) had two catches for 13 yards and Nick Kirkham (freshman from Scotts Valley, Calif.) caught one pass for 23 yards.
Defensively, senior Jake Hahn (Chadron, Neb.) led the Hardrockers with nine tackles, followed by sophomore Chad Westendorf (Geddes, S.D.) and Senior Mike Mule (Billings, Mont.) who each had seven take downs. Mule along with junior Charlie Hankins (Fall City, Neb.) shared a sack. Seniors Hahn, Mule, James MacCormack (Ashland, Ore.), Galen Hoogestraat (Chancellor, S.D.) and Erik Thompson (Oceano, Calif.) played in their final game as a Hardrocker.

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

RAPID CITY --- Two more sports seasons have come to an end at South Dakota School of Mines while two more continue to take off while still another enters post-tournament action. The Hardrocker football team closed the book on the 2006 year falling to the Dickinson State Blue Hawks this past Saturday on Dunham Field at O’Hara Stadium in Rapid City. The men’s and women’s cross country teams’ year also drew to a close after competing at the Region III Meet in Sioux Falls. The Lady Hardrocker netters finished their regular season with a split on the road. The men’s and women’s SDM hoops team took their first road trip of the season, traveling East River to square off with Mount Marty and Dakota Wesleyan University in non-conference contest.
Cross Country
The South Dakota School of Mines men’s cross country team had a difficult race Saturday at the NAIA Region III Cross Country Championship in Sioux Falls, finishing eighth out of 17 teams.
While four of the six Hardrocker men ran personal or season best times, the team did not fare as well as hoped for. Kyle Kattke (junior from Black Hawk) led the ‘Rockers with a 39th-place finish in a time of 26 minutes 42 seconds (season best) and Colton Reid (sophomore from Colstrip, Mont.) finished 47th with a personal best time of 26:42. Andy Lein, a sophomore from Gordon, Neb., was third for the Hardrockers in a time of 27:06 and 53rd place while freshman Nate Hicks (from Yankton) hot on his tail in 54th place and a time of 27:07 (two seconds off of his personal best). Marcus Moor (freshman from Kadoka) ran a personal best 28:11 to finish fifth for the team in 96th place.
"Shane Hague had a rough day running with a late season illness" said Hardrocker head coach Jerry Schafer. "He came down sick on Thursday and still came out and gave it his best shot. He got himself up in the pack early but just didn't have the strength to hold on".
Hague finished sixth for the Hardrockers, about 40 to 50 places lower than normal.
On the women's side Sam Diede (freshman from Huron) and Molly Tobin (freshman from Lincoln, Neb.) both ran personal best times for 5K with Diede finishing 57th in 20:34 and Molly finishing 104th in 21:55.
"Sam had a good race and got herself up in the front early to finish in the top half of the field," Schafer said. "Molly had a solid race as well but we were hoping she could get in the top half of the field."
While the Hardrockers did not quite reach their team goals at the Region III meet, the season was still successful overall with the men's pack time improving from almost two minutes a year ago to a season best of 21 seconds this season. All but one athlete ran career best times for 5K (women) and 8K (men) over the course of the season.
“As the team looks to the future, we only graduate Shane Hague so the ‘Rocker men and women return the nucleus for another successful year next year,” Schafer added.
With the Cross Country season concluded the Hardrockers will focus on training for the upcoming track season.
Volleyball
The South Dakota School of Mines women’s volleyball team closed out the 2006 regular season on a North Dakota road trip this past weekend, splitting a pair of Dakota Athletic Conference matches. The Hardrockers defeated Minot State Friday, 3-1, before getting swept by the conference’s top squad --- Dickinson State, 3-0, Saturday afternoon. In Friday’s bout, the Hardrockers defeated the Beavers, 30-26, 30-20, 19-30, 30-20.
“We feel we really took control of the match in Game 2,” said Hardrocker head coach Doug Tabbert. “We were pretty dominant. In Game 3, (Minot) played a lot better and we really shut down and didn’t play well at all.”
Individually, Jennie Malone (junior from Rapid City) had an impressive match, going 18-19 on the serve and made good on 31 of 33 attacks, tallied 14 kills and four blocks. As a team, the Rockers rung up 73 kills and was 159-179 on the attack. Sophomore Stephanie Carpio (Yuma, Colo.) put forth a good effort, grabbing 18 kills and going 37-45 on the attack. SDM was 101-108 on the serve with eight aces, had 86 digs and 71 assists. Sophomore Jenny Hiykel (Omaha, Neb.) contributed on the defensive end, collecting 20 digs and was 42-46 on serve receive. Sophomore Tessa Howe (Omaha, Neb.) was a solid setter netting 63 of the team’s 71 assists.
On Saturday, even though Dickinson came out on top in all three games, the Hardrockers held their own as each set remained close until the very end.
“The same thing happened in the first two games. We were even with them (on the score board) until (late in the game),” Tabbert said. “Then they would start to pull away. I felt that we were competing with them, but they just took the momentum at the end of each game.”
Individually, Malone had another standout performance. The 5-foot-11-inch middle hitter was 14-15 from the serve line with an ace, made good on 21-25 attacks with 15 kills, had one block and came up with nine digs.
As a team, Mines was 70-77 on the serve with four aces, made good on 89-106 attacks, had four assisted blocks, 40 assists, 41 digs and was 78-82 on serve receive.
After Malone’s effort, Howe had 37 assists and was 12-14 on the serve with an ace. Junior Agniezska Koperek (Belchatow, Poland) was 24-29 on the attack with 10 kills, had 10 digs and was 16-17 on serve receive. Katherine Hanson (freshman from Sioux Falls) had 2 assisted blocks and Hiykel went 43-45 on serve receive.
That wrapped up the regular season, giving Mines a 15-9 overall record and a 6-8 DAC mark.
With that record, the Hardrockers earn a berth in the DAC post-season tournament, which starts Wednesday. As the No. 5 seed, Mines will travel to Valley City to square off with the Vikings (No. 4 seed).
“This is what you work for --- getting to the post season. Valley City is a pretty good draw for us, other than we have to drive that far. They are a team that we feel we can play with,” Tabbert said.
Men’s Basketball
The Hardrocker men split its weekend games, defeating Mount Marty College Friday night, 71-66, but came up short Saturday against the DWU Tigers, 89-74.
In the Mount Marty game, South Dakota Mines had three players reach double figures. Senior Casey Schmitz (Williston, N.D,) and sophomore Brandon Smith (Amenia, N.D.) paced the ‘Rockers with 14 points each. Senior Blake Tideman (Winner) contributed with 12 points while senior Brandon Lord (Taylorville, Utah) chipped in nine. The Hardrockers held an eight-point edge at half time,41-33.
The ���Rockers didn’t fair so well in Saturday’s outing, trailing a majority of the game to the Tigers. SDM got contribution from a couple younger players along with a couple of veterans. Schmitz led the way with a 16-point effort followed by 14 points from senior Brandon Fredrickson (Fort Collins, Colo.). Freshman Robbie Fedor (Monticello, Minn.) had a great game with 11 points and sophomore Donny DeGooyer (Great Falls, Mont) contributed with 10 points.
Next, the Hardrockers head to the West Coast to take part in the Azuza-Pacific Tip-off Tournament this weekend. They will play the host team Cougars Friday followed by a bout with Concordia (Calif.) University on Saturday.
Women’s Basketball
After winning their first game of the season last week, the Lady Hardrockers suffered two disappointing losses on their East River road trip.
South Dakota Mines fell to Mount Marty College Friday, 64-59, and then came up short to Dakota Wesleyan University Saturday, 76-64.
Against the Lady Lancers, Amber DeWeerd (junior from Rock Valley, Iowa) had an outstanding performance, leading the ‘Rockers with 18 points. Freshman Leah Sundby (Williston, N.D.) also put forth a good effort, dishing in 13 points.
Against the Tigers, DeWeerd again set the pace, cashing in for 18 points and against Sundby came up big with a 16-point effort. Freshman Rachel O’Hara Humbolt, did her part with 12 points.
The women’s team falls to 1-2 on the season and will next see action this weekend at the Rocky Mountain College Classic tournament in Billings, Mont.
Football
The Hardrockers ended the 2006 campaign with their fourth scoreless game of the season. SDM fell to Dickinson State, 35-0, in Rapid City. The home team moved the ball fairly well against the Blue Hawks and looked destined to score in the middle of the second quarter. Mines drove the ball pretty much the length of the field and made it down to the one-yard line despite numerous penalties. But a delay of game on fourth down, pushed the ‘Rockers back to the six and they were unable to punch it though after enforcement of the penalty.
Statistically, the Hardrockers had 179 total yards to the 312 amassed by Dickinson.
Freshman running back John Henderson (Long Beach, Calif.,) led the ground game for SDM with 64 total yards. Sophomore Kyle Krajewski also gained some yards, collecting 40 on 14 carries.
The passing attack struggled a little as the quarterback position was shared by both Jason Beilstein (freshman from Lodi, Calif.) and Frank Vanskike (sophomore from Redding Calif.). Beilstein was 3-6 for 48 yards and an interception while Vanskike was 4-9 for 41 yards and an INT.
Krajewski led all receivers catching three balls for 37 yards, while Lukas Munsell (junior from Mills, Wyo.) had two catches for 13 yards and Nick Kirkham (freshman from Scotts Valley, Calif.) caught one pass for 23 yards.
Defensively, senior Jake Hahn (Chadron, Neb.) led the Hardrockers with nine tackles, followed by sophomore Chad Westendorf (Geddes, S.D.) and Senior Mike Mule (Billings, Mont.) who each had seven take downs. Mule along with junior Charlie Hankins (Fall City, Neb.) shared a sack. Seniors Hahn, Mule, James MacCormack (Ashland, Ore.), Galen Hoogestraat (Chancellor, S.D.) and Erik Thompson (Oceano, Calif.) played in their final game as a Hardrocker.

The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U. S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Uses may be allowed with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or within another legal exemption. The user of this work is responsible for compliance with the law.